Nikon is a brand that needs no introduction, renowned for its cutting-edge technology, outstanding performance, and unmatched quality. From novice photographers to seasoned professionals, Nikon has something to offer everyone. With its extensive range of cameras, lenses, and accessories, Nikon has established itself as a trusted name in the photography industry. So, whether you’re looking to capture breathtaking landscapes, freeze a moment in time, or document life’s precious moments, Nikon is the perfect companion for your photography journey.
Nikon was established in Tokyo, Japan in 1917 as an optical equipment manufacturer, producing precision instruments, binoculars, and microscopes. During World War II, the company shifted to military optics, but after the war, it returned to its original focus and expanded to cameras. Nikon released its first camera, the Nikon Model I, in 1948 and its first in-house developed camera, the Nikon S, in 1950. In 1959, the company released the Nikon F, its first single-lens reflex camera, which became a favorite among professionals. In the 1980s, Nikon introduced autofocus technology, which made photography more accessible to amateurs. Today, Nikon is a leading manufacturer of cameras, lenses, and optical equipment, catering to both amateurs and professionals with its extensive product line.
Nikon’s target audience includes a wide range of individuals, from amateur photographers to seasoned professionals. The company’s extensive product line caters to the diverse needs of this audience, with compact point-and-shoot cameras for casual users, advanced mirrorless cameras for enthusiasts, and professional-grade DSLRs for experienced photographers.
Nikon also targets individuals who are passionate about photography and appreciate the value of quality equipment. These individuals value performance, reliability, and innovation, and seek to capture exceptional images that tell a story or convey a message.
In addition to photographers, Nikon targets videographers and filmmakers who require high-quality equipment for capturing video. The company’s cameras and lenses are known for their exceptional video capabilities, making them a popular choice among professionals in the film and television industry.
Nikon’s target audience includes anyone who is interested in photography or videography and values high-quality equipment that delivers exceptional performance and innovation.
Nikon – Marketing Mix
Nikon, one of the world’s leading camera manufacturers, has built its success on a strong marketing mix that effectively promotes its products to a diverse range of consumers. The company’s marketing strategy encompasses the 4Ps of marketing – product, price, place, and promotion – to deliver a comprehensive approach that appeals to its target audience. By leveraging its strengths in innovation, quality, and customer service, Nikon has been able to establish a strong brand presence and maintain a loyal customer base.
Let’s take a closer look at Nikon’s marketing mix and how it has contributed to the company’s success.
Product Mix
Its product mix includes cameras (both digital and film), lenses (including zoom, prime, and specialty lenses), binoculars, microscopes, and semiconductor lithography systems. Nikon’s focus is on optics and imaging, with a strong emphasis on cameras and lenses for both professional and consumer markets. The company also produces products for scientific and medical applications and advanced lithography systems used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Nikon’s pricing strategy is based on various factors such as the product’s target market, features, and competition. The company offers a range of cameras and lenses with different features and capabilities, priced differently based on each product’s intended market. Nikon also uses psychological pricing to appeal to customers’ perceptions of value and promotional pricing to encourage sales through discounts and bundle deals. Additionally, the company often introduces new high-end products at a premium price before gradually lowering prices over time through price skimming. Nikon’s pricing mix aims to maximize revenue while remaining competitive in the market.
Place Mix
Nikon’s place mix strategy is all about making its products accessible to customers worldwide. They sell their cameras and other products online via their website and other online retailers. In addition, Nikon has a vast network of authorized retail stores, including camera stores, electronics stores, and department stores, where customers can buy their products. Nikon also works with distributors to supply their products to retail stores. Lastly, with a global presence, Nikon sells its products in various countries through local distributors, subsidiaries, and affiliates. With this multi-channel distribution strategy, Nikon ensures that their products are available to customers anytime and anywhere.
Promotion Mix
Nikon’s promotion mix is a powerful tool that the company uses to promote its products and build brand awareness by using a combination of advertising, sales promotions, public relations, personal selling, and direct marketing, Nikon reaches customers through multiple channels and engages with them in meaningful ways. Their advertising campaigns reach a wide audience through print media, TV, and online channels. Nikon also offers sales promotions, such as discounts and special offers, to increase sales and attract customers. Through public relations, the company generates press coverage and participates in industry events to create a positive image of the company and its products. Personal selling and direct marketing provide customers with personalized advice and support and reach them directly through email, direct mail, and online advertising. Nikon’s promotion mix is a well-rounded approach that ensures its products are widely known and highly desired by customers.
Nikon’s marketing mix includes a carefully crafted strategy that enables the company to succeed in a competitive marketplace.
Nikon – Marketing Campaigns
Nikon’s marketing campaigns have been nothing short of phenomenal in showcasing the company’s product capabilities and emphasizing the art of photography. From the groundbreaking “I AM Nikon” campaign to the awe-inspiring “Small World” and “Pure Photography” campaigns, Nikon has truly set the bar high for others to follow. Their “Follow Your Passion” campaign has motivated amateur photographers to capture their experiences and cherish them forever with Nikon’s innovative products, while their “Z-Series” campaign has elevated the game for both professionals and amateurs alike. By connecting with customers and maintaining its position as a leader in the photography industry, Nikon inspires us all to capture the world around us in new and exciting ways.
I Am Nikon Commercial
Nikon – Marketing Strategies
Nikon’s marketing strategies have been a force to be reckoned with in the highly competitive world of photography. Through a combination of bold, ambitious, and highly creative tactics, the company has consistently distinguished itself from its competitors and established itself as a leading brand in the industry. From innovative advertising campaigns that showcase the versatility and capabilities of Nikon’s products to personalized sales and direct marketing approaches, Nikon has demonstrated a remarkable ability to engage with its target audience and build a loyal following.
Let’s take a closer look at some of Nikon’s top marketing strategies that have propelled the company to success, and explore how they can serve as a source of inspiration for other companies looking to make their mark in the marketplace.
Product Diversification
Product diversification is a key marketing strategy employed by Nikon. By offering a wide range of products, Nikon can appeal to different segments of the market and meet the needs of various customers. The company’s product portfolio includes cameras, lenses, accessories, and software, which are designed for both professionals and amateurs alike. Nikon’s cameras are available in various categories, such as DSLR, mirrorless, and compact cameras, providing customers with a diverse range of options to choose from. The company also offers specialized lenses for different purposes, such as wide-angle lenses for landscape photography and telephoto lenses for sports and wildlife photography.
Nikon’s Range of Products
This approach has allowed Nikon to establish a strong presence in the photography industry and maintain its position as a market leader. By continuously innovating and expanding its product line, Nikon has been able to attract new customers and retain existing ones, further solidifying its brand reputation.
Multi-channel Distribution
Multi-channel distribution is a marketing strategy used by Nikon to ensure that its products are widely available to customers through various channels. By utilizing multiple channels such as online sales, retail stores, distributors, and international sales, Nikon can reach a larger customer base and make its products more accessible to them. This strategy enables Nikon to cater to the different preferences and buying behaviors of customers, which is crucial in today’s competitive market. By providing customers with a choice of where and how they want to purchase Nikon products, the company can increase its sales and build customer loyalty.
Targeted Advertising
Nikon’s marketing strategy is all about precision and relevance, and targeted advertising is a key weapon in its arsenal. By leveraging data on demographics, interests, and behaviors, Nikon can deliver highly personalized ads that speak directly to their audience’s needs and desires. Whether it’s professional photographers looking for cutting-edge camera features or enthusiasts seeking to capture the perfect shot, Nikon’s targeted ads ensure that the right message reaches the right people at the right time. With this approach, Nikon can not only drive sales and boost brand awareness but also build deeper connections with their customers by showing that they understand and care about their unique needs.
Social Media Engagement
As the digital age continues to evolve, Nikon’s marketing strategy has adapted to include social media engagement, a crucial component of connecting with today’s consumers. By utilizing popular platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, Nikon can interact with its audience and build brand recognition. Nikon’s social media presence not only showcases its products but also shares user-generated content, tutorials, and photography tips, positioning them as a valuable resource for photography enthusiasts. By fostering a sense of community around the brand through direct engagement with customers, Nikon increases its reach, boosts audience engagement, and ultimately drives sales. With social media engagement as a core part of its marketing strategy, Nikon continues to lead the way in connecting with modern-day consumers.
Nikon, Facebook
Sponsorship of Events and Photographers
One of Nikon’s successful marketing strategies is its sponsorship of events and photographers. By sponsoring high-profile events and talented photographers, Nikon can gain exposure and build brand awareness. For example, Nikon sponsors the annual Sundance Film Festival, where it showcases its products and provides support for filmmakers. Additionally, Nikon sponsors prominent photographers, such as Joel Sartore, who use Nikon products in their work and promote the brand through their platforms. By sponsoring events and photographers, Nikon can align itself with the art of photography and establish itself as a leader in the industry. This strategy not only increases brand awareness but also drives sales as customers are more likely to trust and purchase products from a brand with a strong reputation and credibility.
Ready to capture the attention of your audience and create a community around your brand? Get inspired by Nikon’s success story.
FAQs
When was Nikon’s first camera released?
Nikon released its first camera, the Nikon Model I, in 1948 and its first in-house developed camera, the Nikon S, in 1950.
What is the target audience of Nikon?
Nikon’s target audience includes anyone who is interested in photography or videography and values high-quality equipment that delivers exceptional performance and innovation.
What are a few notable marketing strategies of Nikon that have propelled the company to success?
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Amagi.
Amagi is a next-generation media technology company. It provides end-to-end cloud-managed live and on-demand video infrastructure to content owners, broadcast and cable TV networks, and OTT platforms. Its core expertise lies in broadcast-grade 24×7 linear channel creation, channel distribution to Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV platforms, live orchestration for sports and news, OTT server-side ad insertion, and analytics for monetization, cost-effective disaster recovery, among others.
Amagi supports 500+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. The company generated approximately 2 billion ad opportunities every month supporting OTT ad-insertion for 1000+ channels. Its clientele includes ABS-CBN, Fox Networks, Fremantle, NBCUniversal, Tastemade, Tegna, USA Today, and Warner Media, among others.
StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Baskar Subramanian (Co-founder & CEO, Amagi) to get insights into the startup story and roadmap of the organization. In this article you’ll discover how Amagi company was conceptualized, its business model, customer acquisition strategies, Amagi competitors, Amagi technologies revenue, Amagi logo, future plans, and more.
Amagi – Company Highlights
Startup Name
Amagi
Founders
Baskar Subramanian (CEO), Srividhya Srinivasan, Srinivasan KA
Amagi is a next-generation media technology company. It provides end-to-end cloud-managed live and on-demand video infrastructure to content owners, broadcast and cable TV networks, and OTT platforms.
Amagi’s core expertise lies in broadcast-grade 24×7 linear channel creation, channel distribution to Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV platforms, live orchestration for sports and news, OTT server-side ad insertion, and analytics for monetization, cost-effective disaster recovery, among others.
Amagi’s clients include top-tier broadcast TV networks, digital-first networks, content owners, Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST), and OTT platforms in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. The company has grown 100 percent over the last two years and is profitable. Amagi has a presence in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, and Singapore, broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore. Amagi has 350+ employees and continues to hire and expand operations across all regions.
Amagi Live
Vision
Amagi’s long-term vision is to transform the media and entertainment industry by virtualizing the whole broadcasting operation. The flexibility of cloud-built solutions for broadcasting outpaces the capabilities of traditional hardware-intensive operating systems. Its goal is to be the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV.
The startup is currently amidst a global ‘cord-cutting phase with more and more viewers choosing streaming TV over traditional Pay TV services. And within streaming, Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV or FAST (the streaming version of the free TV network) is becoming immensely popular among viewers keen to revisit the simplicity of linear TV-like experience.
Amagi is playing an instrumental role in the transformation taking place in the streaming industry. In fact, it is at the front and center of it. Amagi had already established early leadership in the domain, enabling content brands to spin up linear channels on the go, distribute them to leading FAST platforms and generate ad revenues for themselves.
300+ content brands have so far chosen to engage Amagi’s services to amplify their distribution across FAST. Its short-term goal is to be able to emerge as the undisputed leader in providing the complete technology stack in streaming distribution, especially in the FAST space.
Amagi’s core belief is that technology has the power to transform an industry, making it more nimble and more competitive, and providing options to both service providers as well as end-users.
Take the Media and Entertainment industry for example. For several years, the industry had not undergone any major transformations until Cloud came into the picture. Cloud-led technology solutions challenged the status quo in the industry, creating radical changes in content consumption patterns (the OTT boom is a prime example). Due to the technology disruption, users have more choices and more flexibility and control over what they want to watch. Content creators, likewise, have the option of scaling their business on the cloud at lower opex compared to traditional broadcasting models.
As the front runners of next-gen media tech solutions for broadcasting, Amagi takes pride in having played an instrumental role in this transformation. Amagi has successfully introduced a flexible ‘pay-as-you-go’ model for launching and operating 24/7 linear channels by eliminating the need for traditional, hardware-driven, large expensive physical operations. The company essentially put the entire broadcast operations on the cloud.
Rise of connected TV: In the fourth quarter of 2020, CTV devices accounted for 49% of the time people spent streaming video globally
Smart TVs’ viewership time increased by 157% in the quarter to represent 17% of overall viewership time
Global audience for FAST TV: 200 million and still growing
The connected TV market is currently generating $250 billion in ad revenues
Amagi’s Market Share:
Overall, Amagi has 500+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. Amagi has already established early leadership in the FAST domain, with 50+ FAST platforms and 100 other platform partnerships globally. 300+ content brands chose to engage Amagi’s services to amplify their distribution across FAST. This includes Fremantle, beIN Sports, Yahoo! Finance, Tastemade, Qwest TV, Shout! Factory, Cinedigm, USA TODAY, VICE UK, and more.
Industry growth in the next 5 years:
The team at Amagi believes that streaming is the future of TV with millions of viewers around the world making it their favored entertainment destination. In 2020 alone, nearly 68 million US homes had made the switch from cable to OTT, and around 300 streaming players were vying for their attention in the market. In India too, studies predict that the OTT content market is at an inflection point and is likely to reach $5 bn in size by the end of 2022.
There are shifts taking place within the OTT ecosystem too. While subscription-based streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime continue to be popular among viewers, the sheer volume of options in the Subscription-Video-On-Demand space has caused ‘decision fatigue’, giving rise to a new phenomenon – Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST), a subset of Advertising Video-On-Demand (AVOD).
With FAST, viewers can go back to the simplicity of linear TV-like experience, with ad breaks that are shorter and tailored to their interest, without having to incur any Pay TV expenses. The rise of FAST in the US and other markets such as Europe, LatAm, and Asia is opening new vistas for content brands for channel creation, distribution, and monetization. The growing demand for connected TVs and the popularity of linear TV-like experiences imply that good quality content is going to become freely available to viewers, and monetization of content will be largely through advertising.
Amagi was founded in 2008 by Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Srinivasan KA to pioneer cloud-based broadcast and advertising technology solutions. The company originally started in India providing targeted TV advertising solutions.
The founders often tell a story of how they were approached by a young palmist offering to predict their future as they were sitting in a park and brainstorming ideas for their next entrepreneurial venture, on a Monday morning in early 2008. The palmist, rightly assuming that the founders were currently in between ventures, chose to target them as they seemed the likeliest candidates for needing their futures told. This ‘targeting’ on the part of the palmist put them in mind of ‘targeting’ as a solution. They chose ‘targeted advertising’ on traditional TV as a business model, as there was a real need for technology intervention in this area, to democratize TV advertising and make it accessible to small-time advertisers.
As part of their research into the viability of this technology, the founders went to the United States and other countries to examine what was already available in this space. They found that the tech that existed was very expensive and not scalable. For it to be a success in India, the tech had to be low cost and easy to scale.
They decided to build this technology from scratch and scale it to 3000 cities at a time, which was the start of Amagi.
In the late 2000s, billions of dollars worth of advertising money were being spent by large corporations on national TV– a luxury that small-time regional advertisers could not afford. Amagi’s founders took ad democratization as their problem statement. They believed that targeted advertising technologies could have a transformational impact in this area.
They wanted to see if they could build a network of local advertisers and offer them geo-targeted advertising on traditional TV (narrow the target down to a street, if needed) as a solution to their visibility requirements on TV. They decided to build targeted advertising infrastructure in the country by splitting the satellite signals at specific locations and inserting new ads.
Advertisers loved the idea. They could now choose to target multiple locations (individually), and yet, end up spending less than a national TV ad slot (the cost of the sum of the individual locations was less than the whole national ad spot), thus gaining more visibility, at a fraction of the cost.
That was the genesis of Amagi’s foray into the TV advertising arena, which eventually led to bigger innovations at larger scales.
The company quickly pivoted from targeted advertising to lead cloud adoption and evangelize cloud technologies for broadcast.
Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Srinivasan KA are the founders of Amagi.
Baskar, Srini, and Vidhya met and befriended one another during their graduate years at Government College of Technology, Coimbatore. They are software engineers who co-founded the company in 2008 after their previous entrepreneurial venture, Impulsesoft, was acquired by Nasdaq listed SiRF.
About the founders –
Baskar Subramanian | Co-founder & CEO, Amagi
Baskar Subramanian – Co-founder, Amagi
Baskar is a serial entrepreneur with many patents to his name. As CEO, Baskar drives Amagi’s vision, growth strategy, and execution, enabling the transformation of the global media and entertainment industry through technology innovation. Baskar has been instrumental in developing several of Amagi’s path-defining technologies on cloud broadcast and frame-accurate ad splicing for both TV and OTT. Under Baskar’s leadership, Amagi has demonstrated strong growth, becoming an industry leader in SaaS-based solutions for broadcast.
Prior to Amagi, Baskar co-founded ImpulseSoft, a wireless technology company, which was later acquired by NASDAQ-listed SiRF. He started his career as a software engineer at Texas Instruments before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey. To foster a culture of entrepreneurship in society, Baskar regularly shares his insights and expertise with startups and small businesses. He is a well-known speaker at technology and industry events, evangelizing the use of the cloud for broadcast industry transformation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Technology from the Government College of Technology (GCT), Coimbatore, India.
KA Srinivasan (Srini) | Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Amagi
KA Srinivasan – Co-founder, Amagi
Srini is a technology entrepreneur with 23+ years of experience in establishing and successfully scaling businesses. Srini co-founded Amagi in 2008 and established it as a global leader in SaaS for broadcast and streaming TV on the cloud. As Chief Revenue Officer, Srini is responsible for revenue growth inclusive of sales & marketing.
Before Amagi, Srini co-founded the wireless audio company, ImpulseSoft, which went on to become a market leader and was later acquired by the American semiconductor company, SiRF. Earlier, he started his career at Texas Instruments as a software engineer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Government College of Technology (GCT), Coimbatore, India. Srini regularly speaks at global industry events, evangelizing the use of the cloud for channel creation and monetization. In his free time, Srini loves to travel and read, and play arbitrator for his kids in their friendly sibling conquests.
Srividhya is one of the few women entrepreneurs in the broadcast technology industry to have successfully conceptualized and introduced pioneering products for global markets. She loves to create innovative product solutions to tackle complex engineering problems. At Amagi, Srividhya plays the critical role of advising global clients on suitable cloud deployment architecture, designing custom solutions, and ensuring that clients transition to cloud broadcast models smoothly.
Srividhya started her career as a software engineer at Texas Instruments. She spent most of her 23 years of professional experience as a technology entrepreneur. Before Amagi, she had co-founded ImpulseSoft, a wireless audio technology company that was later acquired by NASDAQ-listed SiRF.
She graduated from the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. Engineering is her first love, and she firmly believes that engineering is her reason to be.
Founders’ Task
Task divided among founders: Baskar Subramanian is the CEO of the company. He leads technology innovation, business strategy, and overall execution at Amagi. Srinivasan KA is the Chief Revenue Officer. He is responsible for revenue growth inclusive of sales and marketing. Srividhya is the Chief Customer Success Officer. She plays the critical role of advising global clients on suitable cloud deployment architecture, designing custom solutions, and ensuring that clients transition to cloud broadcast models smoothly.
Company Size & Hiring funda
The company has 400+ employees at present and is growing rapidly. Over the past two years, the company has expanded to more locations, including Latin America, Canada, and different parts of Europe. The founders are looking to onboard premium tech talent across Engineering, Product Management, and Global Sales roles in India and its international locations.
Work Culture
Amagi is a company that prides itself on being outrageously ambitious. The founders encourage their employees to think like ‘there’s no box at all.’ By asking employees to bring never-thought-before ideas to the table, they deliver breakthrough results, driving exceptional outcomes for their customers.
Amagi’s early products and solutions were conceptualized and built with the purpose of offering advertisers greater freedom through technology. Amagi in Sumerian means “freedom” and the name seemed a fitting choice for what the company intended to do – which was to offer local advertisers the freedom to do more and achieve more despite having limited resources.
Amagi Logo
The company’s logo has undergone several changes over the years. The first version of the logo had a small TV screen as a brand mnemonic to clearly demonstrate the company’s core market and expertise. As the company grew and became more international in its operations, the logo was likewise upgraded to have a global appeal. Amagi’s logo is font-based and minimalistic. It is easily replicable across all formats and surfaces.
Amagi – Business model & Revenue model
Amagi offers three business models for customers to choose from –
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
‘Bring your own license’, and
Fully Managed Service
It also offers a revenue share model with content owners and platforms based on ad insertions enabled.
Amagi Cloudport UI
Amagi – Launch & Customer Acquisition Strategy
In the Indian ad business as well as the global cloud broadcast business, Amagi engages with customers both on-demand and supply side. Demonstrating the value-add its solutions could give them was a crucial part of the startup’s customer acquisition strategy.
In the ad business, it had to convince broadcasters to support localization of ads on their national channels, and local/regional advertisers to buy targeted ad spots on these channels. Oftentimes, the team had to buy ad inventories at its expense on a premium and then sell them to local advertisers at a fraction of the cost, to convince them that its solution worked. Amagi’s business model was that it could sell the same ad spot through as many regional advertisers as possible with the view that the sum of the parts will eventually be greater than the whole. Based on the success of this approach, Amagi was able to sell a million ad seconds per month.
In the cloud broadcast business too, Amagi was working with forward-thinking customers who were willing to place their bets on cloud technologies, which is a low-cost, low risk, pay-as-you-go infrastructure model. As these companies discovered the inherent advantages of the cloud and were willing to future-proof their business using cloud solutions, Amagi’s business saw the momentum and its list of customers grew steadily.
The OTT revolution, lockdown-imposed restrictions, and the growth of Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV were other factors that led to the increased adoption of cloud-based solutions as the de-facto infrastructure for broadcasting. From 2018 onward, Amagi’s business momentum was on a rapid incline. By 2021, it had 500+ content brands, 2000+ channel deliveries, 50+ FAST platforms, and 100 other OTT platforms in its customer portfolio.
The comprehensiveness of Amagi’s solutions: The breadth and depth of services it offers its customers are exhaustive. From broadcast-grade 24/7 linear channel creation to distribution across satellite, cable, and IP, to OTT server-side ad insertion and analytics for monetization, it provides end-to-end infrastructure for broadcast operations on the cloud.
The flexibility of the working model: Amagi’s customers can manage hundreds of channel feeds and scale up at will from any remote corner of the world using its solutions.
Comprehensive distribution network: Amagi enables its customers to distribute their content across satellite, cable, and IP. Its strongest value proposition to its customers is the FAST platform distribution network. With 50+ FAST platform partnerships globally, content owners can share their content across any platform in any part of the world.
Amagi has been able to provide tremendous value to its customers with the immense capability and agility of its solutions, which has, in turn, giving the startup a high customer retention rate (127% net retention as of July 2021).
To kickstart its targeted advertising business, Amagi had to collaborate with cable operators from around the country, from big cities to tier 2 cities. There were around 20,000 cable operators in the country at the time.
One of the earliest challenges it faced was in collaborating with the operators who had a limited understanding of the technologies that they were building. Making them aware of its potential and bringing them on board was a herculean task.
The second challenge it experienced was in convincing channels to let it insert ads in between their content. From a technology provider standpoint, Amagi was unaware of the ad content and could not give channels the reassurance that it would be inoffensive to its viewers. Having never done local advertising before, they were also unsure of the business model and unwilling to experiment with it. To counter this challenge, Amagi had to build an in-house ad sales team, buy ad inventories and then sell it to local advertisers, at considerable risk to itself. Amagi also built an in-house ad creative team to tackle the challenge of ad content ambiguity.
It started off as a tech provider and pivoted to add multiple other capabilities into its service offerings to meet the demands of the customers. Furthermore, another challenging task that Amagi successfully pulled off was when the company pivoted to a Saas-based monetisation platform for TV networks and content owners. Amagi, which started off strictly as an advertising solution provider to offer advertising solution to local businesses TV channels dropped the same model and began afresh with a Saas-based approach in 2018. This pivot was painful indeed when the company had to bid adieu to around half of the workforce it had. However, Amagi made it out strong. The successful story of Amagi’s growth had not been discovered until the company revealed that it skyrocketed its revenues, which neared the Rs 200 crore mark along with churning significant profit in the fiscal that ended in March 2021
Amagi – Funding and Investors
Amagi has been successful in raising $240.2 million in over 6 funding rounds that it has seen to date. The last funding round for Amagi came in on March 16, 2022, where the company was successful in raising $95 million worth of funds in a funding round led by Accel, and eventually joined in by other existing investors including Norwest Ventures, Avataar Ventures, and more. This funding round helped the company gain a unicorn valuation, thereby making it the 12th Indian startup to join the unicorn club of companies in 2022.
Amagi earlier raised $100 million last in September 2021, from a bunch of investors. The lead investors of Amai include Emerald Media, Mayfield Fund, and more.
Funding Date
Name of the Funding Round
Amount
Lead Investors
March 16, 2022
Private Equity Round
$95 mn
Accel, Norwest Venture, Avataar Ventures
September 10, 2021
Private Equity Round
$100 mn
–
December 15, 2016
Series D
$35 mn
Emerald Media
January 19, 2015
Series C
–
Premji Invest
June 1, 2014
Series B
$4.7 mn
–
June 17, 2013
Series A
$5.5 mn
Mayfield Fund
Amagi has recently organized a buyback of shares worth $12 mn from its founding team and employees. The Amagi board has approved a buyback of 76,533 equity shares at Rs 11,998.63 per share, which would amount to $12 million (Rs 91.8 crore), as per the regulatory filings of the company. As a result of the buyback, only two of the company’s co-founders, Baskar Subramanian and Srividhya Srinivasan, could offload their shares that were worth $8 million (Rs 61.2 crore).
Amagi – Growth and Revenue
Amagi supports 650+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. The company generated approximately 2 billion ad opportunities every month supporting OTT ad-insertion for 1000+ channels. Furthermore, the total audience of Amagi is calculated at somewhere around 2 bn+ and is growing each quarter. The company currently has a valuation of $1 bn+ and is hailed as one of the highest valued mediatech companies worldwide.
Amagi has a presence in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, Singapore, broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore.
Amagi clients include ABS-CBN, A+E Networks UK, beIN Sports, CuriosityStream, Discovery Networks, Fox Networks, Fremantle, NBCUniversal, Tastemade, Tegna, USA Today, Vice Media, and Warner Media, among others.
Amagi is a profitable company. In the fiscal year ending March 2021, Amagi announced a 136% increase in annual revenue and a sequential growth of 18% in revenue in the quarter ending June 2021.
Looking at the Amagi revenue, the company has seen quite a growth (2.3X) in its revenues from operations, which stood at Rs 96.1 cr in FY20 and became Rs 219.3 cr in FY21. The total revenue it earned from the US ballooned 3.3X YoY to become Rs 143.7 cr during FY21 and making up for 65.5% of the total company’s revenues. Furthermore, the revenue earned by Amagi from the rest of the world also increased by 99.4% to become Rs 31.5 cr.
Amagi Financials
Amagi Financials
FY21
FY20
Operating Revenue
Rs 219.30 cr
Rs 96.1 cr
Total Expenses
Rs 197.94 cr
Rs 115.15 cr
Profit/Loss
Profit of Rs 20.71 cr
Loss of Rs 18.70 cr
EBITDA Margin
12.7%
-11.7%
Amagi Expenses Breakdown
Amagi expenses were recorded at Rs 115.2 cr in FY20, which increased by 72% to stand at Rs 198 during FY21. Cloud hosting and other expenses associated with the server and the hosting shot up 2.4X YoY and is deemed to be the largest expense for Amagi in FY21, making up for 38.1% of the total annual costs of the company. The second largest expense for Amagi was the employee benefit expenses. Here’s a quick look at all the expenses of Amagi in FY21 and a comparison with the previous year’s expense verticals.
Amagi Expense Verticals
FY21
FY20
Server Hosting Expenses
Rs 75.50 cr
Rs 31.60 cr
Employee Benefit Expenses
Rs 66.93 cr
Rs 45.80 cr
Other Operating and Admin Expenses
Rs 26.19 cr
Rs 25.44
Broadcasting Charges
Rs 8.70 cr
Rs 3.10 cr
Subscription Membership Fees
Rs 10.17 cr
Rs 5.41 cr
Legal Professional Charges
Rs 10.45 cr
Rs 3.80 cr
Coming to the unit economics, Amagi had to spend Rs 0.9 to earn a single rupee of revenue. The company focused on growth this year after its pivot and has managed to grow by 2.4X.
Amagi – ESOPs
Amagi rolled out an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) scheme and a stock appreciation rights scheme (SARs IV), which would cumulatively be worth $24 mn.
Amagi – Competitors
Amagi has a whole bunch of rivals that are competing in the same industry. Here are some of the prominent Amagi competitors:
Front & Sullivan’s Global Product Innovation Award 2018 for Amagi CLOUDPORT
IBC Innovation Awards Winner 2015
CNBC 10 Hottest Startups in India
Deloitte 2nd Fastest-Growing Tech Firm in India, 2012
Stevie Gold Award for Medium-Sized Company of the Year (Media & Entertainment)
Stevie Bronze Award for Cloud Application / Service of the Year
Amagi – Future Plans
In the fiscal year ending March 2021, Amagi hit a revenue milestone of 136% and a sequential growth of 18% in the quarter ending June 2021. Its plan is to keep this business momentum going by offering newer cloud-innovated product capabilities and services to support new-age content providers and platforms in their growth journey.
Amagi plans to offer its customers a self-service portal – a single platform – on which they can access all its products. The platform will enable customers to leverage the benefits of all the products in its technology stack – its channel playout solution, Amagi CLOUDPORT, its server-side ad insertion solution, Amagi THUNDERSTORM, its live orchestration, and lightweight content scheduling platform, Amagi LIVE and AMAGI PLANNER, and more – on a single browser window.
The streaming TV revolution has created more opportunities for content owners to create, distribute and monetize channels. While viewers enjoy having more choices, they also expect the content to be of broadcast-grade quality standards. Amagi is offering low-cost playout options to smaller, new-age content owners to help them create compelling viewing experiences for their audiences, thereby, placing them on a level playing field with large deep-pocketed broadcasters.
FAQs
What is Amagi company?
Amagi is a next-generation media technology company. It provides end-to-end cloud-managed live and on-demand video infrastructure to content owners, broadcast and cable TV networks, and OTT platforms.
Who founded Amagi?
If you are wondering about the Amagi founders, then Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Srinivasan KA are the persons behind the foundation of the profitable advertising solution turned SaaS-based monetisation platform for TV networks and content owners, Amagi.
How much is the Amagi technologies revenue?
Amagi Technologies marked its revenue from operations at Rs 96.1 cr in FY20. This grew by 2.3X to become Rs 219.3 cr in FY21.
Is Amagi an Indian company?
Yes. Amagi’s headquarters is situated in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The company is also having its headquarters abroad in New York, USA.
What does Amagi’s client base look like?
Amagi clients include Fox Networks, Fremantle, NBCUniversal, Tastemade, Tegna, Vice Media, and Warner Media, among others. Amagi supports 500+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries.
What is the meaning of the word ‘Amagi’?
Amagi in Sumerian means “freedom” and the name seemed a fitting choice for what the company intended to do – which was to offer local advertisers the freedom to do more and achieve more despite having limited resources.
Today, data is said to be the new currency. Big businesses believe data is what fuels monetary stability. That’s why many companies give more preference and energy to collecting the data, even if that makes them stay at a loss for a short period. Likewise, collecting data has become more of a tradition than a process. Because it is almost everywhere to be found. especially in the marketing of businesses.
Now, this strikes the question, what exactly is data-driven marketing?
Regardless of coming under the limelight only in the past few decades, data-driven marketing has become an integral part of the functioning of the world. It has refined marketing, making it more cost-optimized, which further proves that the power of data is undeniably crucial.
As the name suggests, “data-driven” marketing uses data to promote growth and make the right use of resources. Here, it focuses on using the collected data to improve campaign performance. In simpler words, it means justifying every penny spent on marketing by spending marketing expenditure in such a way that it only focuses on the areas that bring in growth.
Data-driven marketing was used in the olden times, even before the existence of computers and the internet. Amusing, right? The only different thing was the form of the data and the means of collecting those data.
People collected data by going door to door, enquiring about the product while tallying and ticking marks. With the help of the internet, the same goal is fulfilled. The same thing is done, but in a way that is hassle-free and does not require going door to door. It has always been a primitive custom; we upgraded it as we upgraded ourselves.
Why is Data-Driven Marketing better than the traditional methods of marketing?
This type of focus marketing was first initiated in the early 1970s and 80s. The power of collecting data for carrying out marketing procedures for a specific product was newly introduced, and people were amused by how powerful the right database is, for a fruitful and efficient personalized marketing strategy. Ever since then, customer communication has become easier with each passing decade.
“Valid customer data holds the balance sheets of the company”. When we talk about efficient marketing strategy, personalized engagement comes into the picture; this leads to the promotion of the company brand, which is done directly to the correct crowd; this hinders from wastage of funds and increases the return on investment (ROI).
It eradicates the unsure thoughts and guesswork from the process. One can get a clear idea of customer demographics, choices, and ideas in the customer’s head. Following this pathway, correct and refined customer segments can be captured and targeted.
Along with the heap of benefits, the process also comes with many challenging situations at each step of the process. Check out some obstacles that might come your way if you opt for a data-driven marketing process:
Collection of the right data
It is highly risky to depend on a single or few sources of data alone. Verification of each piece of data from multiple media is necessary to prove the authenticity of the piece and validate it. One needs the expertise and experience to filter out the most relevant data. Without this as a basis, the chances of making cognitive errors and wasting resources increase exponentially. This is the most important part of the process.
Reaching the right target
Having very elaborate data of interest can do more harm than good to the process. The advertisement tends to pop up mostly on the screens of dummy customers, meaning people who have no desire for the description of your data and will just scroll past it. Hence, decreasing your click-through rate (CTR). Overall, this decreases the efficiency of your procedure and lowers the return on investment(ROI).
Ready, steady, action!
There is an urge for an emergency while implementing this step: taking the ultimate step and giving the process meaning. It is very important to hit the iron while it’s hot. The quick-changing temptations of the customer influence data-driven marketers. It becomes very essential to keep track of customer preferences and take action immediately and effectively before the data becomes obsolete.
If you are thinking of revamping your marketing process and making it data-driven, then here are some basic things you need to focus on:
Collection of data
Collecting data from available sources is a difficult but necessary phase in the process. It provides a location for monitoring good decision-making and successful execution in a variety of advertising tools and industries. The internet, the cloud, and a variety of other platforms store a significant amount of data that consumers provide while using the internet.
Analysis of data
Before implementing any type of tool, data-driven marketers have to derive what type of interest they are looking for. This is done through the set of data gathered, refined, modeled, and framed as per the requirement to obtain the right audience set and maximum funds utilization.
Showing it to the targeted audience
When data-driven marketers are sure of the demands of the customers, they will be targeting their desired audience in such a way that it connects with their motives and reflects their attention in a manner that fulfills the goal. This way, by following the proper process, you will get amazing results all thanks to data-driven marketing.
Conclusion
To further conclude, the marketing processes that are empowered by data promise to solve bigger problems making the job cost-effective and cutting down the wastage of time and energy. There’s the data liberation that exists, which opens up a plethora of possibilities. Also, because of the abundance of data available, every entity now has a deeper understanding of its audience’s consumers than ever before. So, data-driven marketing is certainly the future of marketing, at least as is predicted now!
FAQs
What is Data-Driven Marketing?
Data-Driven Marketing is the process of marketing your brand based on customer information. Customer data is used to predict their needs, desires, and future behaviours, and marketing is done accordingly.
Is Data-Driven Marketing better than the traditional methods of marketing?
Yes, Data-Driven Marketing is a more efficient personalized marketing strategy.
Why is Data-Driven Marketing important?
Data allows marketers to market their brand to target and capture the correct and refined customer segments.
Chaitra S
